I have two part-time jobs: Job A (mornings) and Job B (afternoons). The bosses from both companies are acquaintances. Both are minimum wage jobs, at Mom n Pop style companies. No HR department.
Boss A seems to work 24/7. I get emails from him most weekends and evenings. I’ve tried to set a clear boundary that I won’t respond to emails or texts outside of my morning shifts, but sometimes I cave if it is something I can help with in five minutes.
Earlier this week, Boss A emailed Boss B during my Job B afternoon shift, complaining I wasn’t answering his emails and asking Boss B if I was around (he’s aware of my exact work hours and availability). Boss B said I was there and asked if he should pass on a message. Boss A replied, “No, it just seems like she’s never around. She must be very busy.” How do I know this? Because he sent the emails from the company’s customer-facing email account with my name as the subject line. All Job A staff have access to sent and received emails in that account.
I’m not sure how to handle this. In the past Boss A joked that Job B was taking up too much of my time and I should work for him more, but this is the first time I’ve witnessed him do something potentially damaging to my position and reputation at Job B.
I’m worried that if I tell Boss A, “Please refrain from contacting Boss B during my Job B work shift. I will get back to you once I have started my next shift at Job A,” he’ll reprimand me for going through his “private” email conversation (how he doesn’t realise the company’s main inbox is visible to all staff I don’t know…) and just switch to texting Boss B next time I haven’t gotten back to him outside of my work hours.
What would you do in this situation?